The European Union currently has no overall European strategy for CCS and CCU. The current CCS directive, which was adopted in 2009, concerns only the permanent geographical storage of CO2 and sets a legal framework for the transport and storage of CO2 underground.

The Commission expects to publish a strategy in the first quarter of 2024. The upcoming EU strategy aims to show the way to how the technologies can best contribute to achieving climate neutrality in the EU in 2050 and sets a strategic vision for industrial CO2 capture and storage in the EU. Earlier this year, the Commission held an open public consultation on the subject, where citizens, interest groups and businesses could express their opinion on the subject. The response from the open consultation must contribute to and help shape the strategy for industrial CO2 capture and storage in the EU.  

In collaboration with the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply, the European Commission held their third CCUS forum in Aalborg on 27-28 November this year. The forum was supposed to bring together all relevant actors in the field and was about how to accelerate the roll-out of CCUS technologies in the EU.

In this connection, Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands joined together and signed the Aalborg Declaration, which declares CO2 capture, use and storage as a necessary climate tool that must be scaled up both nationally and on a European level.

During the forum, the Commission also unveiled the designation of two Danish projects (Norne & Bifrost) as PCI projects (Projects of Common Interest) in the EU. The designation gives them the status of especially important infrastructure projects for the whole of Europe, gives them the opportunity to apply for EU support for the projects and opens up faster permit processes³. 

Although it has not yet been decided to what extent and how the technologies will be used in the EU, a number of funding sources have already been established to support the development and expansion of CCS and CCU²: 

• Innovation Fund 
• Recovery and Resilience Facility 
• Connecting Europe Facility 
• Just Transition Fund 
• Horizon Europe